Search - Philip Frohnmayer, Stephen Dankner, H. Jac McCracken :: Stephan Dankner: Songs of Bygone Days; Piano Sextet

Beware! These are NOT the well-known tunes...

Charles M. Howell | Los Angeles, CA | 11/24/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Probably no one associated with this album set out to cheat or deceive anyone, but these are NOT the well-known 19th century popular tunes that their names suggest. A current composer has written new versions of these songs based on the original lyrics. Why? Beats me. He explains in the liner notes, "The idea of composing new music to popular song lyrics nearly one hundred years old intrigued me..." I guess it's an art project of some sort.



I can't even blame Amazon for the confusion, since there is absolutely nothing visible on the outside of the packaging that would indicate that these are not the original songs. You have to open up the CD package and read the booklet before this fact is revealed.



I've given this two stars since the people who made the album seem to have been sincere. But if you are looking for recordings of these old standards, the post-modern, oddly dissonant, quasi-classical melodies presented here will only puzzle you.



They could at least have said something on the front or back of the package to indicate that these are not the original tunes."